Professional Tricks to Efficiently {Photograph} a Multi-Present Stadium Live performance Tour

David Bergman concert photography — July 9, 2022, Luke Combs, Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa, ON | Photograph Copyright David Bergman

Photographer David Bergman has been a live performance tour photographer for greater than 30 years and shares his suggestions for making regularly distinctive and interesting images by a multi-city stadium live performance tour.

Photographing touring musicians is a enjoyable however uniquely difficult endeavor. Whereas every location is totally different, the present and its format are typically quite constant. The longer a tour, the harder it’s for a photographer to make photographs that really look distinct from each other. When venues develop in measurement, that may get much more difficult.

In 2019, Bergman — who can be a Canon Explorer of Light — began touring with nation music singer Luke Combs. Combs is extraordinarily in style, a lot in order that the 2023 North American leg of the tour will happen completely in stadiums, which Bergman says could be very totally different than working in conventional venues and even arenas for a number of causes.

“First, most stadiums are outdoor, so it’s a must to take care of the weather. I labored for Sports activities Illustrated for a few years and all the time felt that, if the climate was going to be dangerous, I needed it to be actually dangerous. It simply makes higher photos that approach,” he tells PetaPixel.

“If it’s raining evenly, you get moist and have to guard all of your gear, however it’s not sufficient water to point out within the images. Final yr we had an incredible downpour throughout Luke’s stadium present in Seattle, so I used it to my benefit and created some attention-grabbing photographs.”

Bergman’s Professional Tip: To make rain or snow look epic, decelerate your shutter pace. I often shoot live shows with quick speeds of 1/500 or larger to freeze the motion, however that makes the rain appear to be small dots. By shifting right down to 1/30 second or slower, you get for much longer streaks that actually improve the texture of your picture.

As talked about, stadiums specifically are difficult due to their sheer measurement. Bergman says he has just a few methods that assist him wrangle the state of affairs.

“Along with the climate, stadiums are a problem due to the sheer measurement of the venue. I’ve the entry to {photograph} all the present, so I attempt to combine issues up all through the evening. If I stood in a single spot within the photograph pit all evening lengthy, I’d simply wind up with too many repetitive images,” he says.

“As a substitute, I shoot from the pit, on stage, out within the crowd, and even within the higher deck to make a large shot in the course of the live performance. It’s necessary to set the scene and present the dimensions of the occasion I’m documenting.”

That scale additionally means it will probably take a very long time to get from one location to a different, although.

“It takes twice so long as you suppose to get all the way in which up there. Strolling up lots of stairs and navigating lengthy concourses whereas dodging followers — a few of whom are inebriated — may be very time-consuming. I attempt to plan my time accordingly in order that I don’t miss an excessive amount of of the present making an attempt to get into place,” Bergman explains.

“As well as, due to the distances concerned, lengthy lenses are a digital necessity to correctly {photograph} a stadium live performance. I don’t need to miss something, so I all the time use at the very least two our bodies with two lenses to change shortly between wide-angle and telephoto. Inside an area, I can seize all of the motion with my Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 and RF 70-200 f/2.8. However even after I’m up shut within the pit at a stadium, it’s too distant to get tight photographs of everybody on stage at 200mm. So I exploit my Canon RF 100-500 and may even make good photographs from nearly anyplace.”

Bergman’s Professional Tip: Don’t be afraid to crank up your ISO to get a sooner shutter pace. On in the present day’s cameras just like the Canon R3 and R5, there’s little or no noise at 6,400 and even 12,800. The 100-500 lens has a most aperture of seven.1 at 500mm. I want these excessive ISOs to get shutter speeds above 1/500 and freeze the motion. When you make an ideal picture, nobody will discover a little bit little bit of noise within the shadows.

Bergman says that regardless of the challenges, he’s extremely grateful for the alternatives he has, particularly along with his newest tour with Luke Combs. For these , Bergman truly works with Combs for one of his workshop series that places a bunch of photographers with him throughout an precise present which supplies some real-world expertise within the style.